Update - the trackable associated with this cache has been missing for some time so the full co-ordinates can now be calculated from the puzzle below.
The West Midlands region is comprised of 6 counties:
Herefordshire (GC3CFPX)
Shropshire (GC3CFQ0)
Staffordshire (GC3CFQ7)
Warwickshire (GC3CFP8)
West Midlands (GC3CFPD)
Worcestershire (GC3CFQ6)
Each of these 6 counties has a cache hidden within it, containing one of six puzzle pieces used to solve a Bonus Cache (GC3CFN0), hidden close to the venue of the UK Mega 2013 - Heritage Motor Centre.
Shropshire is one of England's most rural and sparsely populated counties and with an area of 3,487 square kilometres (1,346 sq mi), it is England's largest inland county. 30% of the population reside in the new town of Telford which was created in 1960s and 1970s from the merger of other, smaller settlements, most notably the towns of Wellington, Oakengates, Donnington and Shifnal. A further 15% live in the county town of Shrewsbury.
The economy of the County was traditionally agricultural but with the advent of the Industrial Revolution a large network of canals and railways appeared; the area around Coalbrookdale in the county is seen as highly significant, as it is regarded as one of the birthplaces of the Industrial Revolution.
Mining also played an important part in the economy of the county - at one time it was awash with dozens of mines but today there are no working mines left in Shropshire, and most of the mine sites were abandoned long ago. Although coal was by far the most-mined substance in the county, metals such as lead, copper, zinc and iron were mined, along with clay, limestone and barite.
This cache can be found by solving the puzzle below and by finding this trackable:
UK Mega 2013 - Shropshire.
The trackable tag will give you the missing part of the westing and this puzzle will give you the missing part of the northing:
Note that sight of the TB is not now needed.
A = How many English counties share a border with Shropshire?
B = How many loggerheads are there on the County's Coat of Arms?
C = Charles Darwin, the author of "The Origin of the Species", was born in Shrewsbury - in which century?
D = The world's first cast iron bridge was built over the River Severn at Coalbrookdale in which century?
E = How many glacial meres form Shropshire's “Lake District”?
F = How many sets of steps must you climb from the New Town in Bridgnorth to reach the Old Town?
N 52° 49. (F+A-B) (E-B) (C-D+B-A)
W 002° 58. (F-B) ((AxC) -(DxA)) (E-B)
